Grant: Fellowship - PA: First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis Health

For Indigenous Peoples, traditional foods (i.e., fish, fowl, game and plants) harvested from local food systems have vital nutritional, cultural, and spiritual significance. Thus, for the Syilx First Nation communities in British Columbia restoring and protecting their Indigenous food system is crucial to their health and way of life. Salmon is a central Syilx food; yet, the salmon population and salmon consumption decreased from high historical levels due to poor water management by settlers. Since 2004, the Syilx Nation has worked on a habitat restoration initiative, the Sockeye Reintroduction to Skaha Lake Project, to increase salmon numbers, which has resulted in a rise in fish harvesting. This initiative and its accompanying cultural activities has enabled about 5,000 Syilx to decide the direction of their lives (through self-determination) and has helped reconcile past social and environmental injustices through increasing food sovereignty (i.e., the right of peoples to define their own food systems which are ecologically, socially and culturally appropriate). The objectives of this fellowship are to: 1. Assess changes in social determinants of health, food security and diet resulting from the initiative. 2. Document the barriers and enablers of the initiative. 3. Estimate how many salmon are being caught compared to historical levels, which groups of community members receive fish, and the cost-benefit of the initiative. 4. Provide insights into how to develop successful Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives. This research will describe factors contributing to successful Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives and the importance of food sovereignty to Indigenous social determinants of health, food security and diet. This may result in adapted food sovereignty programming that ensures Indigenous peoples in Canada have access to their traditional foods.